Psalm 106

People often wonder if there is a logic in the order of the Psalms, if they are collected in any sequence.  You can certainly see an order in this current section.  We are in the midst of some historical Psalms (they review Old Testament history).  

Further, Psalm 105 and 106 are quite connected.  In 105 we see God’s covenant faithfulness declared to the great men, the Fathers of Israel.  In 106 we see that same covenant faithfulness in the context of the rebellious nation.  I am often reminded of the two parables in Matthew 13:31-33. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that begins small and grows into something great. The Kingdom of Heaven is also like leaven, which in Scripture is always a picture of sin.

Marvel at God’s mercy and grace to Israel and give Him praise for the same in your own life as you consider this great Hymn of Faith.

·         106:1-5: The opening call to praise focuses on God’s enduring mercy (this is a song about God’s faithfulness in spite of Israel’s constant rebellion) and includes a prayer to see God’s salvation.  It is written at a time when Israel is in exile (106:47).  Consider now the situations in which God maintained His faithfulness to Israel.

·         106:6-12: God was faithful when Israel rebelled by the Red Sea (Ex. 14).

·         106:13-33: God was faithful when Israel rebelled frequently in the wilderness.

o   106:13-15: when they demanded meat to eat (Num. 11:4-9,31-35).

o   106:16-18: in the rebellion of Korah (Num. 16).

o   106:19-23: at the time of the golden calf (Ex. 32).

o   106:24-27: when they refused to enter the land (Num. 14).

o   106:28-31: when they worshiped Baal in the land of Peor (Num. 25).

o   106:32-33: when Moses became angry with them (Num. 20:1-13).

·         106:34-46: God was faithful when Israel rebelled frequently in the land.

o   106:34-39: when they didn’t destroy the nations but intermingled with them (Judges 1:27-2:6).

o   106:40-43: thus God gave them into the hands of the Gentiles (Judges 2:11-15).

o   106:44-46: nevertheless He remembered His covenant (Judges 2:16-18).  This cycle of apostasy (Israel sins, God judges, Israel cries out, God sends a deliverer) happened repeatedly (Judges 2:19-23).

·         106:47-48: The Psalm ends as it began, with a prayer for salvation (this time for the nation, not just the Psalmist) and a call to praise the Lord.

This Psalm is amazing in that it recalls Israel’s frequent sin.  But we must take heart and see ourselves in this as well.  We are by nature people who are desperately wicked, who are given to the same grumbling and rebellion as Israel.  It is critical that we see Christ here.  God did and does punish His people, but not as their sins deserve (Ps. 103:10).  Ultimately God provided atonement for Israel, and for all who will receive it, through Christ.  He judged our sin in Christ.  Jesus has born our sins on the cross.  God kept His promise to Adam and Eve to send a Savior who would be of the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15).  Let us not despair of our depravity; rather let us turn to Christ in saving faith!

Rom. 11:33-36; Isa. 40:27-31, Background for Romans 9-11

Paul’s Letter to the Romans was written to Romans!  I just thought I would begin today with a profound statement.  Specifically, of course, it is written to the “beloved of God, called saints” in Rome.  The breadth of this letter, covering the entire process of God’s intended work in the lives of all men, is fitting to be sent to the capital of the empire.  Paul is the “Apostle to the Gentiles” so the believers in the leading city of the Gentiles should receive this letter.  But having said that, the “Apostle to the Gentiles” has a lot to say about Israel, the one and only people-group not called “gentiles.” “For the Jew first” (1:16).  The guilt of the Jews (2:17-29) in spite of their advantage (3:1-8).  The lesson of faith from Israel’s greatest: Abraham and David (Ch. 4).  The inadequacy of the Law of Moses, God’s word given to Israel (Ch. 7). 

And then, of course, there is Rom. 9-11.  Leading up to this section Paul has been fairly negative about Israel in that he has pointed out their sin and their failed attempt at righteousness by the law.  Furthermore, Paul and the rest of the early Christians knew of the prophecies of Jesus that Israel’s failure was going to bring about a terrible judgment from God (Luke 23:26-31).  I would say with great confidence that these ominous words of Jesus were behind Paul’s “great sorrow and continual grief” at the beginning of the section (9:1-5).

Yet, the end of the section says that “all Israel will be saved” (11:26), “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (11:29) and “how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out” (11:33)!  I think it’s obvious, but some students of Romans seem to miss it, that Paul is giving a clear message of assurance that God will, as always, be faithful to His words.  This faithfulness includes keeping the promises made to Israel.  This was always part of the prophetic message in the OT.  The prophets announced judgment on Israel but then reassured them that Israel still had a future in God’s great wisdom.  Here are 3 of the many illustrations of this.

·       Isa. 40-66 is all about this.  Comfort for Israel who has received double for her sins (40:1-2).  Isaiah has prophesied judgment, a terrible judgment from Babylon.  Israel thinks “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God,” a thought expressed in 40:27; 49:14 and 59:1.  But 40-66 ends with the arrival of Messiah with the bloody robe (63:1-6) and a new heavens and earth (66:22-24).

·       Lamentations was written by Jeremiah as he experienced the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem by the Babylonians.  His great sorrow and continual grief if emphatic.  And remember, in the book that bears his name, he had prophesied this coming judgment.  Yet, what do we know of Lamentations?  The words in the middle: “Great is Your faithfulness” (3:22-24)!  Again, Jeremiah wrote to tell the remnant to wait on the LORD.  He would keep His word, His covenant with Israel.

·       The Psalms of Asaph (Book III of Psalms, Ps. 73-89) collectively have this message.  Look at Ps. 79.  The nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps.  The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth (v1-4).  The question is: How long, LORD? Will You be angry forever?” (v5).  The prayer is, Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, for Your name’s sake (v9). 

Thus, we conclude, Paul is obligated to do the same thing.  It might seem to some that God is finished with Israel, especially since they crucified the Lord of glory!  But Paul says, don’t think like that!  Trust in the wisdom of God.  He has a plan that confounds the wisest of men, a plan whereby He keep His word. ALL HIS WORDS!

Rev. 14:13-17, The Future Salvation of Israel (2)

We started a list of passages that speak of aspects of Israel’s future salvation.  You may have noticed most of them spoke of a “wilderness” setting.  As we come more to the NT today, let me just remind you of today’s passage.  This desert setting is consistent.  But now consider these additional passages.

·       Rev. 14:13-17: The salvation of the nation involves both a physical deliverance as well as spiritual deliverance and establishment of the New Covenant.  The time of this salvation is as the end of God’s use of the nations to chasten and cleanse Israel.

·       Rev. 11:3-10: Throughout the tribulation period there are two great witnesses who preach in Jerusalem.  These “olive trees” (perhaps referring to the civil and religious leaders of Zech. 4), even in their death, will preach the gospel to the nation, and likely the world. 

·       Rev. 14:1-5: These 144,000 are quite likely witnesses sent out into the world with the everlasting gospel (14:6) during the tribulation.  That explains how, even in the absence of the raptured Church, there are still gospel-preachers.

·       Rev. 11:13: A great earthquake in Jerusalem also is part of the process of Israel’s salvation.  The result of this event is that the nation finally recognizes that it is the LORD who is working in their midst.

·       Matt. 24:4-41: This is just a reminder that the Olivet Discourse is in the context of Israel.  Jesus gave this to His disciples, before the cross.  It addresses the concern about the future of Israel since their Messiah is about to die.

·       Luke 17:33-37: The context of this prophecy is “the day of the Son of Man” (17:24.)  He will suffer and be rejected (v25).  This is followed by extreme evil (v26-30).  Then “His day.”  This need to flee takes place in the end times.  Those who obey it and flee to the desert will be saved; those who hesitate will be lost.  This passage emphasizes that while the end result is a “saved nation” the citizens of that nation have each come by personal faith in the Messiah.

There are undoubtedly additional clues as to how all this happens.  What we know is that the LORD has made it clear that “all Israel will be saved.”  It will be a genuine Biblical experience, once involving the personal faith of each person.  Yet, God, who knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment will get it right (2 Peter 2:9).  Shall not the Judge of the earth do right (Gen. 18:23)? 

Hosea 2:14-15, The Future Salvation of Israel (1)

The conversation with a brother I mentioned in the previous post continued with a question about Israel’s salvation.  He said that it sounded like the salvation of all the nation was all at once, unlike what we see today when people come one at a time.  I understand the question.  Rom. 11:26-7 says “all Israel shall be saved.”  That might sound like “all at once.” 

To be sure, that is not the case, by which I mean that OT and NT alike, salvation is by faith in the Messiah (the One to come in OT, the One who has come in NT).  Abraham was justified the day he put his faith in God’s promised Seed (Gen. 15:6).  Ezek. 18 clarifies this: a son is not saved nor lost based on the faith of the father. 

But having said that, it does appear that at some point the entire nation will be saved.  It might be helpful to remind ourselves of various events in Israel’s future speak to the issue of people coming to faith in Christ.  Following is a list, not necessarily in chronological order, of passages that reveal this end time salvation.

·       Zech. 9:14-15: In the context of the coming King (Messiah) whirlwinds from the south will be used of the Lord to defend Israel.

·       Zech. 12:10-14: At the outpouring of the Spirit the nation will see Christ to be the One they pierced, bringing a deep repentance on the nation.

·       Zech. 14:3-5: A valley will be created in the Mt. of Olives for the saved nation to escape to the wilderness.

·       Hos. 2:14-15: God will allure the nation to the wilderness and give them the “Valley of Achor” as a door of hope.

·       Ezek. 20:33-44: A time of fury used by God for the regathering of the people of Israel (v33-34) will eventually bring them to the wilderness of the peoples (v35; i.e. not the desert of Israel but more like the desert of Edom, a Gentile area) where God will plead His case (v36).  After chastening God will bring them into the bond of the covenant (v37).  Rebels will be separated out and will not enter the land (v38).  There will be no more idolatry but all Israel will serve the LORD (v39-40).  The LORD will be hallowed in Israel, before the nations (v41).  The nation will know the LORD (v38,42,44).  This “hallowing” is fleshed out in v45-48.

·       Jer. 31:2: Those who survived the sword of the nations will find grace in the wilderness.

·       Isa. 26:20: There will be an invitation to a place “until the indignation is past,” referring to the coming world judgment of Isa. 24:1-26:19.

·       Isa. 63:1-6: The Messiah, with blood on His robe, Who is “mighty to save,” is seen coming from Edom where He has finished Israel’s salvation.

There is more to share in the next post.

Jer. 30:1-11, Why is an Unsaved Nation in the Land Today?

I was talking with a brother in Christ recently who told me he had been in conversation with another brother who questioned why the United States should be supportive of Israel in the current conflicts with Iran and Lebanon.  I know there are a growing number of Bible believing Christians who have raised this question. 

It used to be that support of Israel was pretty consistent.  But these days there is often a conflict between the political and Biblical beliefs of evangelicals.  One issue in this had to do with differences with Prime Minister Netanyahu and belief that his leadership was faulty.  Another comment was that Israel today is not the Israel over which Christ will rule in the future.  Not having been part of the conversation I am guessing he meant that Israel today is very secular and not submissive to Christ or believing in Jesus as their Messiah.  Another reason for this kind of approach is that the Israel today was given the land by human governments, through the UN and decisions made in the late 1940’s.  The thought is that when Israel returns to the land it will be God’s doing and not man’s.  That is an interesting argument, and in fact is held by a major sect of Judaism today, the Satmar Hasidic faction. 

Since I was not part of the conversation between these two brothers I am not able to comment on the specifics of their discussion.  But as my friend shared this with me I did sense that one issue might be a misunderstanding of Gen. 12:1-3 (“I will bless those who bless you”) and Psa. 122:5 (“May they prosper who love you”).  Those passages do not call on the “friend” of Israel to determine whether Israel is deserving of their support.  That is God’s responsibility.  If I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, which I do from time to time, I understand that almost certainly there will be no peace generally until Messiah’s reign.  I still pray, assuming that God will answer that prayer as He sees best, which is a pretty good assumption!

Another thing that people might not understand is the order of events that the LORD revealed through His prophets in the Old Testament.  Jer. 30-31 and Ezekiel 34 are two major passages that yield the same understanding of this order.  Using Ezekiel: there is the regathering of the nation (34:11-15) followed by judgment on Israel (34:16-22) and then the rule of David (Messiah”, covenant of peace, showers of blessings and the time of “Our God … My People” (i.e. the saved nation, 34:23-31).  In Jer. 30:11 the order is the saved nation, preceded by “I will not make a complete end of you,” which is preceded by Israel’s correction and punishment.  Jer. 30:12-24 fleshes out in the same order: Israel’s correction (30:12-15), the full end of the nations (30:16-17), and then the saved nation (30:18-Ch. 31; note that this salvation involved the New Covenant, 31:31-34).

The point is that the regathering to the land must happen before the time of chastening and salvation.  Thus, today, we should not be surprised by the presence of the people in the land who are still unsaved, and actually quite secular. 

Gal. 3:22-4:5, “Under” in Romans and Galatians (2)

We are continuing our study of the Greek preposition hupo.

·       Rom. 13:1: “the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”  “God” is genitive and there is a verb connection.  Thus, the idea of agency.

·       15:15: “because of the grace given to me by God.”  Again, a verb and genitive.  This was important for Paul, that God was the agent/source of his calling.

·       15:24: “to be helped on my way there by you.”  Paul desired the Church at Rome (plural “you”) to be the agency of his ministry when he went on to Spain.

·       16:20: “God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”  Again, accusative.  Satan’s place will be under their feet.  If the Head of the Body has cast out Satan (Jn. 12:31), then the Body will experience his defeat as well.

·       Gal. 1:11: “the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.”  Genitive, Paul was the source of this message; thus hupo is agency, by.

·       3:10: “as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.”  Those, whose “source” is the works of the law, are found in the place of the curse.  In Romans, the law and sin and grace were rulers over those “under” them.  So here then, the curse has authority over those who are trying to do the works of the law.

·       3:17: “the covenant that was confirmed by God.”  Genitive, of course.  This is the Abrahamic Covenant (cf. v16) that promised Christ.  Faith in Christ was always the means of salvation, even for Abraham (Rom. 4:1ff).  The later “covenant of law” could not annul this.

·       3:22: “Scripture has confined all under sin.” This builds on Rom. 3:9, saying that the result is that all who were under sin (all humanity) are saved only by faith.

·       3:23,25; 4:2,3: “kept under guard by the law;” “we are no longer under a tutor;” “under guardians and stewards until the time appointed;” “in bondage under the elements of the world.”  Paul speaks of the role of the law for Jews, in leading them to salvation.  All are accusative.

·       4:4,5: “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law;” “to redeem those who were under the law.”  Those under the law assumed that their righteousness was to found in keeping the law, which was not the case.  Jesus, born in the same context, under law, walked in the Spirit and by faith, etc.  He satisfied the righteous demands of the law (Rom. 8:1-4) but was righteous by His faith (Rom. 3:22; Gal. 2:20).

·       4:9: “known by God.”  Genitive, can be translated “known of God.”

·       4:21: “you who desire to be under the law.”  These are the Judaizers who afflicted the churches of Galatia. Accusative. We need to put off this attitude.

·       5:15: “beware lest you be consumed by one another.”  Genitive. Agency.

·       5:18: “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”  Lastly, we need to put on this truth.  In so-doing we will put on Christ because this is how He lived.

Rom. 7:5-14, “Under” in Romans and Galatians (1)

One of the primary Greek prepositions is “hupo,” used 230X in 211 verses,  The “summary” definition from Strong is this:

ὑπό hupŏ, hoop-o'; a primary preposition; under, i.e. (with the genitive case) of place (beneath), or with verbs (the agency or means, through); (with the accusative case) of place (whither (underneath) or where (below) or time (when (at)):—among, by, from, in, of, under, with.

It occurs in Rom. 3:9: What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.  I am interested in this because Romans (13x in 11 vs) also speaks of being “under” law and grace.  Galatians (14x in 14 vs) also speaks this way.  Thus, we are not interested today in the 230 uses but only those in the two letters of Paul.  According to the definition we will need to note other “Greeky” things.  I suspect we will need to look at slightly wider contexts (2-3 verses before or after) so this might take a couple posts.  Let’s see what we can learn.

·       Rom. 3:9: “they are all under sin.”  “They” (accusative) being Jews and Greeks, every person, as Paul states the depravity of humanity. If you look for humanity you will find them “under sin.”

·       3:13: “the poison of asps is under their lips.”  Also accusative. You might think this silly, of course “under their lips” is the location of the poison.   

·       3:21: “being witnessed by the law and the prophets.”  Used with a verb (witnessed) it speaks of agency, and thus “by.” “Law” and “prophets” are both genitives, meaning the testimony of God’s righteousness had it’s source in the OT.

·       6:14,15: “you are not under law but under grace.”  In both verses, “law” and “grace” are accusative.  The Christian (he is speaking of believers, after Rom. 5:1, those justified by faith) is not to be found in the context of law but of grace.  The problem with the law is explained further in Rom. 6:15-7:25, esp. 7:1-6.  In the life of a human, “under sin,” the law arouses sin through the sinful passions.  In the context, “grace” has the same purpose for believers that “law” used to have.  We were trying our best to keep the law and the law failed in that regard.  Now we are living by grace because we are under grace.

·       7:14: “the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.”  Again, accusative.  By “carnal” Paul is saying he is still in the flesh, meaning human.  Verse 13 indicates he is talking about a past event; “sin … was producing death.”  As a believing human Paul is no longer under law but under grace; yet the sin with which he was born is still problematic. 

·       12:21: “be not overcome by evil.”  “Evil” is accusative, but the preposition is tied to the verb nikè, overcome.  This encouragement is for believers, those who are walking in the Spirit.  Evil should not be victorious.  We are, after all, under grace.